A fair copy of a journal kept by an unnamed officer of the 47th Regiment of Foot, probably of Major Acland's Grenadier Battalion, from April 19, 1775 through October of 1777. The journal covers the battles of Lexington and Concord (ff. 1-5), the siege of Boston (ff. 5- 23), and Burgoyne's invasion and the Saratoga Campaign,(ff. 23 -- 101), including the articles of surrender at Saratoga. The text comprises daily entries, copies of general orders, various returns and other regimental records, and routes from Saratoga to Cambrdige, Mass. and Charlottesville, Va. Also included are "Return of the Killed and wounded and Prisoners of the Army under the Command of His Excellency Lieutenant General Burgoyne in the course of the Campaign" (ff. 80 v. -- 87), "Return of the British Troops under the command of His Excellency Leiutenant General Burgoyne Camp at Saratoga. October 16, anno 1777," and the "Return of the Army of the United States of America Commanded by Major General Gates. Camp at Saratoga, Oct. 16, anno Domini 1777," (ff. 88-90), copies of various general orders of Burgoyne's command of issued from July 19 to June 1777, and an incomplete account of Lady Harriet Acland's ordeal, evidently taken from Burgoyne's memoirs (ff. 103-109 v.) The copy was probably created in the late 1780s or early 1790s. Owner's signature, in a hand different from the main text, on the front and back inner covers: "Richard Pope, Sion Hill," and "R. Pope, G. Pope." Two leaves in the beginning of the manuscript and 18 leaves at the end are missing. The portion of the manuscript dealing with the battles of Lexington and Concord was published by Harold Murdock in: Late news of the excursion and ravages of the king's troops on the nineteenth of April, 1775 (Massachusetts-bay ; Cambridge : Printed by the press at Harvard college for the Club of odd volumes, 1927), pp. 27-32. The 47th Regiment of Foot was formed in 1741, as Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot, later (1743), Peregrine Lascelles' Regiment of Foot; designated the 47th Regiment of Foot in July 1751, and, 47th Regiment of Foot, in 1782. The regiment arrived to New Jersey in 1773, and in October 1774 was sent to Boston to join the forces of Thomas Gage. In March of 1776, it became part of John Burgoyne's troops in Quebec, and on Oct. 17, surrendered at Saratoga. For the remainder of the war it was interned at Cambridge, Mass, Rutland, Mass, Charlottesville, Va., and then Lancaster, Pa.
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